Joseph john stoetzel



(No Model.)

J. J. STOETZEL.

RAILWAY lGNAL FUR LOCOMOTIVES No. 300,406.. Patented June 17, 1884.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Orinoco JOSEPH JOHN STOETZEL, OF LA SALLE,ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND EDlVARD P. FERAY, OF SAME PLACE.

RAILWAY-SIGNAL FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

SPECILE'ICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,406, dated June17, 1884.

Application filed July 17,1393.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Josnrn J OHN SIOETZEL, of La Salle, La Salle county,and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved AntomaticRailway-Signal for Locomotives, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

My invention relates to that class of railwaysigna-ls that are operatedby the passage of the locomotive; and the object of the invention is toprovide a signal of simple construction which. shall be positive andunfailing in its action, and which may readily be adjusted to signal thecoming of a train by either the hell or whistle of the locomotive at thewill of the engineer and without leaving his place in the cab.

The invention consists in a contrivance of an arm pivoted to swingvertically and arranged on the locomotive so as to be automaticallymoved up and down by contact with the fixed inclined rails or ways setat suitable points along the side of the track, the pivoted arm beingconnected by an angle lever and rods with the 'alve of a smallsteanrcylindcr for driving a piston therein, having rod-andleverconnections with the bell of the locomotive, for ringing the bell twicefor every stroke of its connected piston. The valve-connecting rod ofthe angle-lever may almost instantly be disconnected from the valve ofthe bellringing cylinder and be connected with the valve controlling thesteam supply to the whistle of the locomotive, so that either bell orwhistle signal may be operated automatically at different points alongthe line, as de sired.

The invention includes also special constructions of the signal-arm toguard against its breakage by contact with obstructions along the track,and to work with minimum friction along the inclined ways by or fromwhich the signal steamsupply valves are operatechall as hereinafterfully described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side view of a locomotive-engine in part and a portion ofthe track with (N0 model.)

my improvements applied. Fig. 2 is a rear view of a portion of thelocomotive-boiler, showing the bell-operating stcam-cylinde rn end viewand the-double valves controlling the steam-supply to the bell andwhistle, respectively. Fig. is a rear view showing the signal-arm inside elevation, and Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view of the signal-arm ona larger scale.

In any suitable support-such as a couple of bracket-arms, (I, here shownconnected rigidly to the boiler Z) of the locomotivel pivot at c thesignal-operating arm (I, so that it is free to rock vertically on pivotc, and to the inner end of signal-arm (Z, I connect pivotally, at c, thelower end of a rod, e, which connects with one arm of an angle-lever,f,pivoted at f to the side of the boiler b or other convenient part of theengine. A rod, g, connects the other arm of the lever f with either ofthe steanrsupply valves h or i, which connect with a pipe, 3', leadingfrom the boiler. The valve h is arranged to control a supply of steamfrom pipe 7' to the small cylinder k, having any suitablyconstructedvalves and piston, which latter connects by its rod Zwith a rod or bar,in, which, in turn, connects with a crank-arm, a, on the rock-shaft ofthe bell 0, so that by the reciprocation of the rod in. the bell will besounded twice for every complete stroke of'the piston in cylinder It.The steam-whistle p connects by a pipe, q, with the valve '5 for asteam-supply when required. Any suitable direct connection ofthc rod 1/with the valves h i, for open ing and closing them by the movements ofangle-lever f, may be used, a preferred arrangement being the arms h i,which connect rigidly with the stems of the plugs of valves 71 17,respectively, and the connection of rod 1] with the arms ii i" isintended to be such as will readily allow the rod 9 to be disconnectedfrom and connected with either arm, forworking either alve h 1' and theconnecting bell or whistle, as occasion requires; and this transfer ofrod 9 from one valvearm, it" i, to the other may readily be made by theengineer without leaving his place in the cab.

For working the signal-arm (l to open and close the valves of the hellor whistle signals,

' plane.

I arrange the inclined rails or ways 1- s at the side of therailway-track t, so that as the locomotive passes the outer end of arm dwill be moved downward by riding beneath the inclined head of way 1",and will be next moved upward by riding over the top of the inclinedhead of way 8, which will causethe rod 6 to be raised and loweredsuccessively, to move angle-lever f for opening and closing the valves hor t, as above described.

The rail or way 1* is so constructed that while its greater intermediateportion is adapted to have contact with the arm (1 its end portions aredisposed out of the plane of movement of the arm, to allow the latter topass under the rail or way r and be disengaged therefrom, after havingbeen depressed by the interme diate surface of the-rail or way. Thesefollowing inclined ways 1" s are to be set at or near railway crossingsor curves, at bridges, tunnels, or at any signal points of danger alongthe track; and when the bell is to be rung the ways r s will be set atsufficient distance apart to allow supply of steam to cylinder 7a, tocontinue the ringing of the bell only as long as required; and as in theuse of the whistle-signal the sounds are generally of short duration,the succeeding ways r s will be set closer together than for thebell-signal, while for either bell or whistle signal the duration of thesounds may be controlled at will by spacing the ways?" 8 accordingly, aswill readily be understood.

The signal-arm d is made, preferably, in rectangular cross-sectionalform, and with a casing, a, with the side plates, 0, made shorter thanits top and bottom plates, 10, to allow free play sidewise of the armsso of the spring :20, which latter I prefer to make of one piece bentover double, and I secure the spring 00 in the casing a by a fixedslotted block, y, the slot in the block being sufficiently large at theinner end to receive the pin .2 and the bend of the spring, the slotthen contracting toward its mouth to about the combined thickness of thetwo arms :0 of the spring, and from thence gradually rounding outward aty at each side, toform a seat for, the spring-arms 00 as they are forcedeither way by the pointed inner end, a, of the outer portion or bar, I),of the signal-arm, which bar I) is pivoted at 0, so as to swing freelyeither way on the pivot, and in horizontal The outer end of bar 12carries a revolving anti-friction roller, (1, which relieves thefriction of contact with and insures easy and smooth working of thesignal-arm (I over the ways 1* and s for moving the valves h z of thesignal devices.

The spring so may be substituted by two springsone at each side of thebar b and the tension of the spring or springs 06 is should accidentallystrike an obstruction on or alongside the track 25, and to return tonor-v herein shown and described, as practical variations may be madewithin the scope of my invention, which it is believed has manyadvantages over the common methods, and may be cheaply made and applied,and is not liable to get out of order.

I do not abandon or dedicate to the public any patentable features setforth herein and not hereinafter claimed, but reserve the right to claimthe same either in a reissue of any patent that may be granted upon thisapp1ication or in other applications for Letters Patent that I may make.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby. Letters Patent- 1. The combination of the signal arm (1, ways 1* s,angle-lever f, rods 6 g, valves h i, cylinder k, connections Z on n tothe bell 0, whistle p, and pipe q, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

2. The combination of signal-arm (2, ways r s, angle-lever f, rods 6 g,valve h, cylinder k, and connections Zm n to the bell 0, substantiallyas shown and described.

3. The combination of signal-arm cl, ways r s, angle-lever f, rods 6 g,valve 15, pipe q, cylinder 7c, and whistle 19, substantially as and forp the purpose set forth.

4. The combination, with the ways 1' s, angle-lever f, and rods 6 9,connecting with the bell and whistle signals, substantially asspecified, of the signalarm (1, adapted to be rocked .in vertical planeon its pivot c by contact with 7. The signal-arm d, constructed with acas-- ing, it, having sides 1) shorter than its top and bottom plates20, the pivoted head-bar 12, carrying the anti-friction roller 01, theslotted block y, the bent spring as, and the pin 2, substantially asshown and described.

' JOSEPH JOHN STOETZEL. \Vitnesses:

N. W. CUMMINGS, J. F. COLE

